When you’re constantly trying to remember everything, homemaking can take a lot of mental energy.
What I’ve discovered over the years is that creating simple systems that carry some of the mental load for you, help so much.
These aren’t complicated systems, and they certainly aren’t about having a perfectly organized home.
They’re simply routines and habits that I’ve put in place over the years that help our household run more smoothly.
Here are 8 simple homemaking systems that help me manage my home.
1. My One-Stock Pantry
I have a lot of respect for people who maintain large stockpiles of groceries.
I actually tried that for a while.
But I eventually realized that for me, simpler works better.
My goal is to always have one backup of the items we regularly use.
For example, I keep a canister of salt in my kitchen cupboard. But I also keep one backup canister in my pantry.
When I open that backup, I immediately add salt to my grocery list for the next shopping trip.
I don’t have to manage a huge amount of food. I just keep track of one backup.
This system has saved me from running out of flour, taco shells, honey, and all those random ingredients that seem to disappear right when you need them.
I don’t need a huge stockpile. I just need to know that when I run out of something, there’s another one waiting in the pantry.
2. My Gotta-Go Box
I don’t spend a lot of time doing massive decluttering projects anymore.
Instead, I try to declutter little by little as I notice things.
Sometimes I’m cleaning out a drawer or organizing a closet, and I’ll find things we no longer use.
Those items go straight into a box that I keep in our basement.
I call it my Gotta-Go Box.
Once the box is full, I load it into the car and take it to a donation center. Usually that’s Goodwill or our local mission.
This system helps me stay ahead of clutter without waiting for everything to pile up and become overwhelming.
I’ve found that regularly getting rid of a few things is much easier than letting them accumulate and then trying to tackle a giant decluttering project.
3. The One-Touch System
I’ve also worked hard to develop the habit of putting things away instead of setting them down.
Some people call this the one-touch rule.
If I’m done using something, I try to put it directly where it belongs.
I started working on this years ago when we were living in our previous home in Florida.
One evening, I was trying to make dinner and became frustrated because the kitchen counter was completely covered with stuff.
I remember thinking, “This countertop isn’t big enough!”
But immediately I realized that was ridiculous because I had a giant kitchen island in our old house.
The problem wasn’t the size of my countertop.
The problem was that I had allowed so many things to pile up on it throughout the day that there was no room left to make dinner.
In her book Make Room for What You Love, Melissa Michaels refers to the things we set down to deal with later as “delayed decisions.”
We don’t feel like dealing with the mail or putting something away after shopping, so we simply put it on the counter and tell ourselves we’ll deal with it later.
But eventually, all those little decisions become a giant pile.
So now I try to deal with things right away.
I deal with the mail when it comes into the house.
If I use a pair of scissors or a pen, I put it back when I’m finished.
Trash goes straight into the bin instead of being left on the counter.
And when I bring something home from the store, I try to put it away instead of setting the bag down to deal with later.
I’m still working on teaching my kids this habit, but staying on top of it myself is half the battle.
A little effort in the moment saves me from having to clean up a much bigger mess later.
4. My Master Meal Plan
I used to spend so much time every week searching Pinterest and flipping through cookbooks trying to figure out what to make for dinner.
And while I still enjoy discovering new recipes occasionally, I don’t want to have to do that every single week.
So I created a master meal list.
It’s simply a list of meals my family already enjoys.
When it’s time to meal plan, I choose from that list and rotate through those meals.
For side dishes, I keep things very simple. I don’t usually plan them in advance.
We always have things like:
- Frozen vegetables
- Canned vegetables
- Potatoes
- Rice
- Fresh or frozen fruit
I just mix and match from those basics.
This has made meal planning dramatically easier because I’m not constantly searching for new ideas.
And when meal planning is easier, I’m much more likely to actually make dinner.
5. My Load-a-Day Laundry System
Another system that saves me a lot of stress is my load-a-day laundry system.
I’ve found that laundry becomes overwhelming when it piles up, so my goal is to keep up with it daily.
I start one load of laundry every morning.
But the key is that I complete the entire cycle before the day is over:
Wash.
Dry.
Fold.
Put away.
Because when laundry sits halfway finished, it’s incredibly frustrating.
I know this from experience!
The washing gets done but never makes it to the dryer.
Or the drying gets done but sits in baskets getting wrinkled instead of being folded and put away.
I got tired of being frustrated by the laundry, so now my goal is simply to finish at least one load of laundry from beginning to end every day.
My kids help with this by sorting dirty clothes into separate bins for whites, colors, darks, and towels and sheets.
They’re also responsible for putting away their own clean laundry.
In this season of life, it works best for me to handle the washing, drying, and folding while they help with those other steps.
This system keeps us from falling behind, and it means we’re not scrambling for clean clothes when we need to leave the house.
6. Cleaning Up After Every Meal
This next system probably won’t surprise those of you who have been following me for a while.
It’s my after-meal cleanup routine.
I simply clean the kitchen after each meal.
Every night I go to bed with a clean kitchen.
That simple habit alone makes such a difference in how the next morning feels.
Since we’re a homeschooling family, we’re also home for breakfast and lunch. So I take about ten minutes after each meal to quickly put away the food, wipe down the table and counters, and wash the dishes.
That way, the dishes aren’t piling up all day long.
Little messes are so much easier to deal with than giant piles of dirty dishes at night.
And if you have a hard time staying motivated when it comes to caring for your home, I want to encourage you to remember the purpose behind homemaking.
It’s not just about having a clean home.
It’s about creating a home for the people we love.
When I remember that, the ordinary work of homemaking feels a little different.
It becomes less about checking chores off a list and more about caring for the people God has given me.
7. My Weekly Planning Session
Another helpful system is my weekly planning session.
Each week, usually on Sunday afternoon, I sit down with my planner and pencil.
I write down:
- Our meals for the week
- Appointments
- Cleaning tasks
- Bills that need to be paid
- Phone calls I need to make
- Important things I don’t want to forget
I’ve shared this process in more detail before, but the simple version is that I like to get everything out of my head and onto paper.
Because once it’s written down, I can stop mentally carrying it around.
You don’t have to have a fancy planner.
The one I use is around $20, but you could even make a weekly plan with a simple spiral notebook.
I personally like having a monthly calendar and dates to refer to, but the important thing is finding something that works for you.
The key is simply making a plan for the things you can control.
Instead of constantly thinking about everything you need to do, take a few minutes to decide when and how you’ll do the things that are important to you.
There’s an old saying that is so very true: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
I’ve found this to be true in my own life many times over.
Planning doesn’t guarantee that everything will go according to plan. But it does give me a place to start, and it keeps me from having to figure everything out as I go.
8. My Weekly Cleaning Rotation
Another system that has made a big difference in my home is my weekly cleaning rotation.
Years ago, I would forget things, and I’d go weeks without dusting.
A month without washing the sheets or scrubbing the bathtub.
Then everything would build up, and cleaning would feel overwhelming.
So I started assigning recurring cleaning tasks on a weekly basis.
Now those jobs get done regularly before they become major problems.
And that’s really the secret to keeping a consistently clean home.
Simply taking care of things before they pile up.
When the bathtub gets cleaned regularly, it doesn’t have time to develop a huge buildup of soap scum.
When the sheets are washed regularly, I don’t have to wonder when they were washed last.
When dusting is part of my regular routine, I don’t have to wait until the whole house looks dusty before I do it.
Small, consistent efforts make homemaking so much more manageable.
If you’d like to see exactly how I organize my regular cleaning tasks, I’ve created a printable version of my cleaning system that you can download and keep handy.
Get the Simple Homemaker’s Checklist Here.
You Don’t Have to Do Everything at Once
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that homemaking becomes so much easier when you don’t have to rely on motivation or memory for everything.
You don’t need a complicated system for every part of your home.
Instead, look for the areas of homemaking that consistently cause you stress and ask yourself: “Is there a simple system I could put in place here?”
These are small things, but over time they can make a big difference.
And ultimately, that’s what I’m looking for in my homemaking: not perfection, but a home that is peaceful, manageable, and cared for.
What is one homemaking system or routine that helps your household run smoothly? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.